I have seen in nearly all configurations that Peltier elements are mounted with huge heat sinks on hot side as compared to tiny ones on small side.

Is this just a way of explaining the need of heat sink on hot side? Or are there any real benefits of smaller heat sink on cold side? Would an element work better(produce lower temperature on cold side) with equally sized heat sinks?

4 Answers
4

The Peltier cell generates far more heat on the hot side than it consumes on the cold side; the difference being simply the power you are pumping it with. At a minimum, about 2.5x more, and at large temperature differences, more than that.

But I never asked why heat sinks are larger on hot side! The question is why the heat sink is usually smaller on cold side? Is a small heat sink on cold side enough? Would it be better if they were the same size? Is it absolutely necessary for heat sink on hot size to be bigger or is it just cost efficient?
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rijul guptaJun 1 '14 at 18:12

The Peltier element must be able to dissipate more heat than it takes in. That's why hot side heatsinks are larger than cold side heatsinks (and cold side heatsinks are smaller than hot side hatesinks).
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CorneliusJun 1 '14 at 18:17

Why would you want to artificially "limit" the amount of heat that can go into the device? Doesn't it do that rather effectively on its own?
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Dave Tweed♦Jun 1 '14 at 19:43

2

If you make the cold side heat sink larger, it will absorb more heat to emit that heat. As such, the hot side heatsink needs to be larger again. I realize there'll be a limit somewhere where the cold side wont absorb more heat, but assuming someone designs a minimum cost, you'd want the smallest heatsink that still works.
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RJRJun 2 '14 at 0:53

2

FYI, Asking "Why heat sinks are larger on hot side" is the same as "Why the heat sink is usually smaller on cold side".
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whatsisnameJun 3 '14 at 3:54

There's really no justification for it. The two heatsinks could be any size at all. It's just a question of how much thermal resistance you want to have between each surface of the Peltier device and its respective "ambient" environment.

The coldest point in a Peltier-based system is the cold face of the device itself; the thing that it is cooling must necessarily be warmer; otherwise there would be no flow of heat into the face. Similarly, the hot face is the hottest point in the system.

The size of each heatsink determines its thermal resistance. The thermal resistance multiplied by the heat flow determines the delta-T between the Peltier device and the environment. Generally, you want that delta-T on each side to be as small as possible, so you use the biggest heatsink that fits.

It often comes down to the fact that the space being cooled is fairly compact, and so only a small heatsink fits on that side. Sometimes a small fan is used on that side to improve its effectiveness. A secondary issue is that if you have large heatsinks on both sides of the device, it can be difficult to insulate the space between them effectively — if heat from the hot-side heatsink flows directly to the cold-side heatsink, the overall efficiency of the system is reduced.

The coldest point in a peltier system does not necessarily require the cold face to be the coldest point. As long as the cold side is above absolute zero, there is thermal energy available to be transfered to the hot side.
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whatsisnameJun 3 '14 at 3:59

If you make the cold side heat sink larger, it will be able absorb more heat.
To emit that heat, the hot side heatsink needs to be larger again.

There will be a limit somewhere where the cold side won't absorb more heat, but assuming someone designs a minimum cost, you'd want the smallest heatsink that still works. This means that the hot-side heatsink will be larger than the cold side one.